China Cinda Said to Study Joining Yingli’s Debt Restructuring

China Cinda Asset Management Co., a Chinese state-owned asset-management company, has conducted due diligence on possible participation in restructuring the debt of Yingli Green Energy Holding Co., once the world’s biggest solar-panel maker. Cinda is interested in participating in the debt reorganization because it sees potential in Yingli’s solar business, according to two people familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified because the information isn’t public. One possibility for Cinda is to help Yingli sell non-performing assets, the people said.

China Cinda’s interest was reported earlier by China Business News, which didn’t say where it got the information.Yingli, which hasn’t reported a profit since the second quarter of 2011, had total debt of about $1.9 billion at the end of the third quarter last year.olar panel prices have plunged almost 70 percent since 2010 because of a glut in the market, forcing some big Chinese producers including Suntech Power Holdings Co. and LDK Solar Co. to file for bankruptcy after failing to repay debts.

Debt Focus

Two calls to Cinda’s news department went unanswered. Yingli couldn’t confirm the move and declined to comment citing “inappropriate timing,” said an official from the company’s news department who asked not to be named in line with company policy.The focus on debt has taken its toll on Yingli’s operations, with the company lowering its shipment estimate for 2015.

Unit Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Co. still owes about 350 million yuan on 1 billion yuan of notes that were due on Oct. 13, 2015. The company is in discussions with bondholders of 1.4 billion yuan ($213 million) of notes due in May on how to make a repayment.

Global solar installations will grow by at least 20 percent this year compared with 2015 and Yingli will focus on panel sales to speed up the turnover of capital as part of its efforts to repay debt, Chief Financial Officer Wang Yiyu said last week.